Fireworks

My wife and I spent a few days with her sister on the west side of Cleveland and the visited my parents today before returning home. We hadn't seen any of them since Christmas.

Yesterday morning I went for a short ride on the canal towpath that stretches almost from Cleveland to Akron. I rode a major portion of the trail last year and this year I went as far north as it currently extends which is about 4 miles from downtown. This portion of the trail is paved; farther south it is crushed limestone.

There were a lot of bikers, hikers and joggers out on the trail enjoying the holiday. The park system has done a nice job with this trail putting up informative signs at various viewpoints. There are also some displays of old machinery and the trail center building is full of historical artifacts and exhibits.

We didn't plan on going out to see any of the various communities' fireworks displays but wound up viewing some much more local instead. Around 9:30 at night it was evident that there were more fireworks going off than the normal bottle rockets and firecrackers. The fact that we could see reflections of light from the fireworks made us curious.

Stepping outside it sounded as if the entire neighborhood was setting off the explosions. Multi colored displays were constantly going off in all directions. They seemed to be very close to the commercial fireworks, complete with multi-explosion colors and those that whistled and crackled. Walking out to the main street we could see them in every direction, it appeared that each resident was trying to out do the next.

We could also see the "official" Cleveland fireworks in the distance. It looked like it was a fantastic display as well but we were enjoying the local show just fine. So were a lot of the residents that we saw sitting out on their porches and front lawns. At one point a police car came down the main street but never slowed down. I guess firework patrol was not on their list of priorities. I'm glad as it was a great night of taking in the sights and sounds.

We were able to spend a few hours with my parents, both in their 80's and enjoy lunch with them. They both have a lot of energy and seem to be going strong. I hope I have inherited the same longevity genes they seem to have.

Tomorrow I head up north to Robin and Shari's cabin on Lake Higgins so that I can spend the night before heading over to Boyne on Saturday for the race. Race distance should be about 50 miles or so. Hopefully the 100 milers I have done will allow me to do well.